The Lightning Bolt Moment
by gesticulatingwildly
Summary: Set just before the start of the Bartlet administration, Donna helps Josh move into his new apartment, and learns some things about him. - I'm not usually a big fan of either Josh or Donna having strong feelings for each other right back at the start, but this felt right. Also, it gave me the chance to include a 'lightning bolt' moment - something that happened to me recently.


It was refreshing to have a boss she actually liked for once. Donna could see why others found Josh difficult. He was incredibly disorganised, impatient, and far too short tempered at times. Somehow though, they just clicked from the moment they met, almost perfectly in sync sometimes. Perhaps more importantly, she finally had a job she loved.

Seeing Bartlet's rise to power made her feel like she was making a difference. Even if, right now, that difference was mostly ensuring Josh didn't miss any meetings. At least she'd trained him to not expect any drinks from her. She'd had enough of that working at the bar during her unfortunate 'absence' during the campaign. She was so grateful he took her back, and even more grateful that he didn't seem interested in discussing her earlier stupidity. Hopefully, once they were settled in the White House, she'd have more work to do. She was keen to throw herself into the research that Josh said the job would be full of soon enough.

For now, here she was - outside Josh's new apartment, lugging heavy boxes upstairs with him. Ok, it wasn't that exciting but hey, that was what friends did, right? Even friends who were technically boss/employee. It definitely didn't feel like that outside the office. She thought about it. Even in the office, it didn't really feel like that. He might occasionally yell a request at her, but he always knew she could give as good as she got. Underneath any bravado, it was clear he respected her. She'd already convinced him that she was more than just someone to provide him with coffee, staunchly refusing to do so unless it was a very special occasions. They were yet to agree on what actually constituted a special occasion.

Carrying one final box into his new apartment, Donna took the time to survey the area around her. Yup, it was a pretty nice place. Spacious but somehow still homely looking. She figured that was probably because Josh had paid someone else to furnish the apartment before they got there. Today was all about moving his personal effects into the place instead. She felt quite pleased that he was willing to show that side of himself to her. Donna got the impression that Josh didn't open up readily to just anyone. She hoped that wasn't her ego talking, though.

"K, that's the last of it," exclaimed Josh as he pushed his way into the room, dropping a heavy looking box, unceremoniously, next to the coffee table.

Stretching for a moment, Josh yawned half heartedly. Running one hand through his hair, he muttered, "pizza was my end of the deal, right?"

Donna grinned.

"Yup. No way am I forgetting that."

"Ok, I'll call it through in a minute."

He settled on the couch nearby, dragging the box over to poke around in it. Donna walked over and joined him on the couch, looking intrigued at what he was doing.

"I forgot I had all this stuff," he said quietly, the atmosphere changing as he pulled out a photo album, and a small music box.

"What is it?" Donna asked.

Josh started thumbing through the photo album, almost entranced by what he saw, rather than paying attention to what Donna said.

He paused for a moment, and looked up.

"Huh?...Oh, stuff from when I was a kid."

He put the album aside and dug back into the bigger box, pulling out a small toy. It was a toy elephant that had seen much better days. Darker looking than Donna suspected it should have been, it only had a few tufts of fur.

Josh turned the toy around in his hands, smiling sadly at it. His shoulders slumping a little.

"This is Eric," he practically whispered.

"Aww, Eric the Elephant. Cute."

"Yeah," Josh softly replied. "He was Joanie's..."

"Joanie?"

Donna didn't recognise the name.

"Yeah, my sister. She had this when she was a kid."

Donna grinned at the sight of Josh continuing to gently hold onto the toy elephant.

"You ended up stealing it from her, didn't you? I can see it now. Big brother Josh being mean to his little sister forever more," she teased.

She grabbed her drink from the coffee table, waiting for Josh's retort. As she sipped, she was surprised to see Josh not look up from the elephant. It was the kind of teasing he'd normally jump at to get his own back.

Josh finally spoke.

"No, she was my big sister..." Josh's voice cracked just a teensy bit as he followed up with the line that made Donna feel awful, "she died when we were kids."

Donna felt immediately terrible. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so guilty. In an instant, she wracked her brain in case she should have already known. Soon accepting there was no reason why she should.

"Oh, Josh. I had no idea."

She really wanted to hug him.

Josh shook himself a little, before looking up at Donna. She was sure she could see tears in his eyes. He blinked a couple of times then replied to her, more strongly than before.

"It's ok. I never said," he shrugged, placing Eric the elephant carefully on the coffee table.

"What happened?" Donna tentatively asked, as Josh returned to looking through the items in the box.

He stayed quiet for a few more moments, contemplating whatever was in the box, before looking back up at her.

Shifting awkwardly on the sofa, he started talking. It didn't feel as natural as before. Like it was something he'd said a little too often in this exact same fashion.

"There was a fire. My parents weren't home. Joanie told me to get out of the house. I did..." he paused for a moment. For a brief second, his eyes looked almost haunted, then the look went as quickly as it appeared, "...she went back in. I don't know why."

Donna instinctively moved nearer to Josh, allowing her to take his hand and squeeze it.

He gave her a small reassuring smile.

"Anyway, somehow, Eric survived. He's definitely seen better days though," Josh laughed bitterly as he surveyed the tattered elephant.

Donna nodded, wondering what to say next.

"Hey, want to see a photo?" Josh asked, overcompensating with any awkwardness with far too much enthusiasm.

"Sure," Donna replied, moving slightly away from Josh to make room for the hefty photo album.

Josh placed it across their laps, turning the pages slowly. The album smelt musty, like it hadn't been opened in a long time.

"It's ok. You won't get bored," Josh grinned at her momentarily, "we lost most of them in the fire."

He said it so matter of factly she had no idea how he could be so flippant. Donna immediately felt lucky to not know how anyone could be so calm about such things.

Josh skipped a few pages, coming to rest at a photo of a family of four, smartly dressed. It was a posed shot - each parent with their hands on a child's shoulder - but the smiles looked natural. Two proud parents standing behind their children. Even if she hadn't known, it would have been obvious these were Josh's parents. He looked a lot like his father. The same sort of build. Beaming smile. Dimples. Josh had his mother's eyes. Dark and soulful.

In front of the parents were two young children. A small boy, cheekily smiling for the camera. It was so obviously a mini Josh. Even at that age, she could see a determination in his eyes, but it was tempered by a happy twinkle too.

Next to Josh was a pretty girl, a few inches taller than him. With long, thick, brown hair, she was smiling warmly and proudly at the camera. Her hand clasping Josh's. It was a distinctly cute picture, and one that was also painfully sad to look at when you knew what was going to happen.

"This was a couple of months before," explained Josh, breaking the silence.

"We were going to this formal thing that my father's colleague arranged. I can't remember it really," he added.

Donna nodded slowly, struggling to work out what to say.

"It's a great photo," she settled on saying.

"Yeah, I really like it. I'm glad it survived."

Josh slammed the album shut a little suddenly, startling Donna who was trying her best to not look upset at what she'd witnessed. She couldn't begin to comprehend how Josh had coped. How such a small and happy looking boy could live through such an event, and grow up to be this seemingly confident man. Such a dominant figure in any room he stepped into.

By this time, Josh had put the album back into the box. Returning to the small music box from earlier, he opened it up and deftly twisted the mechanism. He placed it back onto the coffee table, as it began to play a gentle lullaby. Leaning back into the sofa, he stared at it as it played.

Donna moved instinctively nearer to him, and watched his reaction as it played. That was when it hit her. Completely out of the blue. A lightning bolt of strong feelings for him. At a slight angle, she could take Josh in for a moment. His eyes half closed as he lost himself to the nostalgic music playing. At peace for a moment. She suddenly realised just how easy it would be to fall in love with him. That thought scared and excited her all at once. Most of all, it surprised her.

She loved spending time with him. He was fun, they had a surprising amount in common, and he never failed to make her laugh. And yes, he was an attractive man, but he wasn't exactly her type. She'd always favored more sporty men. More laid back men. Ideally, blond men with blue eyes. Essentially, the opposite of Josh. Yet in that moment she could feel things suddenly change. This wasn't in the plan at all, but she wasn't convinced she had a choice in the matter.

At that moment, Josh turned to look at her. Smiling ever so slightly, he held her gaze for a few moments. He almost looked content. At last. Despite feeling a little unnerved by her sudden realisation, Donna chose to smile back. Attempting to relax once more on his sofa. She hoped another day this would all make more sense. For now, the next four years felt like they were going to be a hell of a lot more complicated.


End file.
